Bottle It Up
by DearJanuary
Summary: When his old best friend chooses to give up their powers, Justin questions the importance of magic and if being a wizard is more of a burden then a benefit.


Chapter One: Girls Across The Nation Will Eat This Up

Author's Note: My first attempt at a Wizard's of Waverly place fic.

Breathing heavy and his eyes darting back and forth in every direction, Jerry Russo re-cleaned and decorated for the third time in that hour alone.

"Jerry, baby," His wife, Theresa, smacked her lips together causing her lip gloss to spread out more evenly and wandered quickly behind him. She grabbed him by the shoulders to make him stand still. "Drop the throw pillow and nobody gets hurt." She said in a male register and then chuckled a little. "Hon, we've already cleaned from top to bottom. Alice and Nickoli will be here in half a minute, just relax."

"I can't, Theresa," Jerry plumped the pillow and put it back on the loveseat. He followed behind her on her way back to their kitchen nook like a lost little puppy. "They're interior designers, they might not say it, but they're going to be judging our place. They're going to judge us on our taste."

"Please, Jerry, the Sirabella's have been our friends since college, they know us too well now. There are no more questions and judgments. Can you just sit down and relax?"

"I can't sit still. I'm too anxious." He rubbed his hands together and watched as Theresa tossed a garden salad inside a large glass bowl. "Are you going to be serving that?" He asked, sincerely.

"What are Alice and Nickoli chefs part-time, too?"

"No, I just, I just want to impress them, you know?"

"Impress them by going to make sure our kids are dressed well. If you leave Max to his own will, he could come down here with his underwear over his cargo shorts." She nudged her husband's belly with her elbow and chuckled.

"Good point."

With that last thought, Jerry was on his way from the kitchen to check on his youngest son, he only stopped once to look over the living room area again.

"_Jerry_." Without even looking up, Theresa knew and sent him back on his way.

Theresa continued to fix up a mean salad, it was important to her, too, that she impressed her old friends, especially with her cooking. She smiled to herself while recalling memories of her college days with Jerry, Nickoli, and Alice. The four of them were just like _Archie and The Gang_ or the cast of _Happy Days. _She couldn't help, but clap her hands together and giggle when she reminded herself they'd be there in only a few minutes.

"What's with the big grin?" Pulling his arm through the sleeve of his most comfortable black sleeve, Justin wandered into the kitchen aimlessly and stared at his mother, who appeared to have taken too many pain killers or sniffed some paint before coming home from work.

"Oh, I'm just being nostalgic." She told her oldest son. Theresa set the salad aside on the counter and turned around to check on the appetizers she had cooking in the oven: bruschetta garlic toast.

"Well, do you need a hand with dinner?" Justin decided to not further pry into his mother's head and just offered his assistance.

"Actually, yes," She wiped her hands on her apron. "I told Max and Alex to set the table and I haven't had time to check it over. Can you just make sure knives are on the right side and that it looks appropriate? You know Max, he'd eat off road kill, if I let him." She playfully rolled her eyes.

"I'm on it." Justin treaded across the floor over to the dining room.

"Are you excited, Justin?" Theresa asked. She slipped on a pair of oven mitts and turned around to pull out the tray of appetizers. "To see the Sirabella's again? Fia, especially."

The youngest Sirabella daughter, Fia, was born only a month and three days after Justin. She had beautiful big dark features that brought out both her Irish and Italian, they only ethnicities she was made of. Fia and Justin spent their baby years in daycare together and playing Lego blocks, dress-up, and play mobile together. Once they grew into their elementary years, Justin was very considerate and caring when it came to Fia, he always made sure he brought an extra pudding cup from home for her and sometimes, he'd give her some of his good trading cards. Fia, on the other hand, acted as Justin's security guard all the way up to Junior high when he moved to New York City when his family. She would chase away his bullies and check up on him before going to bed. They were the kind of best friends that only Award winning screen writers could conjure up. They weren't a boy and a girl to one another, they were more than just family friends, and they were the other half of one another, a jigsaw completed.

The only girl Justin ever cried over was Fia Sirabella and it wasn't like he was in love with her in any way, shape, or form. It was his first week living in New York City and even though he had his entire immediate family with him, he missed her and he missed the curiosity that would spring from her eyes and the way she held her mouth when she'd laugh. She was his best friend, and he had to leave her behind.

"Yeah, I am, actually." Even though Justin and Fia kept in touch through e-mail, it was going to be great to see her in the flesh again. "All is good over here." Justin adjusted the last wine glass and 

walked back into the kitchen, leaning his abdomen against the island edge and folding his arms over the counter. "Where are they? It's not in Nickoli's character to be late."

"_Tardiness is a trait of the flawed_." Theresa let her voice enter a lower register and tried her best to quote her dear friend, Nickoli Sirabella.

"Mom!" Alex hollered while rushing down the stair like a gust of autumn wind. You could always tell if it was Alex coming downstairs because she didn't walk, she galloped. "You lied."

"Excuse me?" Theresa didn't even look up from sprinkling mixed spices onto the uncooked chicken breast that she'd carefully placed on a baking sheet.

"I was told dinner would begin at six. It's five after. Let's start the chow down now, or I'll never believe you again."

"Alex Russo, we aren't starting dinner until our guests arrive."

"Then I'm grabbing some fruit chews." She shrugged with her pouty lips in their usual shape on her face, perfectly glossed and smelling like coconut.

"Not so fast." Theresa held out one hand, catching her only daughter by the chest. "Wait for dinner." She warned and pointed Alex to the direction of the couches. "I'm sure; they're stuck in New York traffic. They aren't used to these roads and this place. Things back home are a lot different then they are in New York. It's up to you two to make sure Fia gets comfortably adjusted."

"Leave that to me." Justin smiled, he couldn't imagine what kind of mischief and chaos his little sister would rope Fia into. Alex fixed Justin with an intimidating stare and her infamous eye roll.

"What about Christina?" Alex asked about the Sirabella's other child, their oldest daughter. She was twenty two, engaged, and had recently dropped out of University. Awaiting her mom's answer, Alex began to lick her lip gloss off, indulging in the taste and attempting to savor it.

"Well, Abe is moving with the Sirabella's. I think that's her fiancé's name."

"It is." Justin remembered Fia mentioning that online once.

"Plus, she's twenty two, she won't be attending school with you guys and she'll probably be occupied with her own things."

"Where are they? This isn't like Nickoli." Jerry took each stair at a time, watching his feet until he reached the floor. Max followed behind him, slowly, holding onto the rail and yawning.

"My stomach is screaming inside, ma, can we eat now?" He asked, joining his siblings in the living room.

"Yeah!" Alex seconded that idea.

"It's fine. People are late, this is fine." Theresa said.

As if on cue, a loud rapture fell upon the door.

"See, they're here." Theresa wiped her hands against each other and started to take off her apron while following her husband, anxiously to the door.

They both felt like teenagers, having a party while their parents were out of town.

"Jerry! Theresa!" As soon as the door opened, a woman with sun kissed blonde hair and big hazel owl-like eyes threw her arms open and took Jerry into a hug. She was dressed in a tight onyx colored dress that matched the thick outline of her eyes.

"Is that Fia?" Max swayed closer to his brother and asked in a hush. He couldn't remember the Sirabella's at all; he was only a baby when they moved to New York.

"No, that's Mrs. Sirabella." Alex told him from the loveseat. "Alice or something."

"Oh, you guys are unchanged!" Theresa revealed while holding her old best friend and Jerry's ex-fiancé in a huge welcoming hug.

"I apologize for being late; it was a force beyond my control." Nickoli told Jerry between clenched teeth, his eyes sliding down to look down on the shortest girl on the clan.

"That's alright, that's fine." Jerry waved his hand through the air to symbolize that their punctuality wasn't an issue.

"Come in, come in." Theresa made room to let Nickoli and Alice inside. "Let's see these girls."

"Justin!" Since she could see past her father, who stood unusually tall and trotted proud with his chin pointing upwards, Fia spotted her old best friend across the loft and ran straight to him. Justin stood up at the very sight of her and caught her in a jumping hug. Fia was still small, even in heels she wouldn't make five five. Justin held her very gently scared of her delicate size that he could break her into a million different shards all over their clean floors. She had hips and breasts for dancing, they were the only gluttonous thing about her, everything else was very quaint.

"I can't believe we're actually here." She squealed with her cheek against his, her smile almost pushing off of her face.

"It's great to see you." He tried to unravel his arms around her, but pieces of her dark hair got caught between his fingers. "You look…you look…" She really didn't look like his best friend anymore. She'd filled out and he'd never seen her with a stitch of make-up on before. It was the first time he noticed her to be a girl.

"He means you look good." Alex piped in from behind. "And you do." She smiled, politely.

"Alex, how are you?" Fia took her in a hug, ignoring the parents behind them who were getting to know Abe and re-acquainting themselves with Fia's older sister, Christina.

"I'll be great once I'm full." She rubbed her stomach and told.

"I'm starving, too." Fia turned around and went to meet Max, the only Russo, she never really got to know at all.

"Justin, Alex, Max!" Theresa called them over to the doorway and meet the rest of the Sirabella's. "Alice, Nickoli, you remember our kids, Justin, Alex, and Max."

"Oh, of course!" Alice gushed. "They're beautiful."

"They talk like we can't hear them." Alex didn't like when people spoke about her without speaking to her.

"Alex is beautiful." Alice dragged one hand down Alex's head of hair and then gave her a very delicate hug.

"Oh, keep talking." Alex laughed.

"We never got a chance to get to know this little guy." Nickoli messed Max's hair with a shake of his hand and then went to, more appropriately, shake his hand. "Nickoli Sirabella, nice to meet you."

Max tried to puff his chest out and stand tall, mirroring Nickoli.

"Max Russo, nice to meet you, too." He said in a deeper voice then his own.

"Theresa, it smells great in here." In shorts that were more appropriate for summer then the winter weather that was coming on, the face on top of the long legs that were Christina Sirabella's, spoke. She had a head of peroxide blonde hair, clearly dyed, and a body of an artist's masterpiece. She was flawless.

"Thank you, come in, come in, let's eat." Theresa led the whole clan to the dining room.

"Yes, let's!" Alex agreed and made a mad dash for her seat at the table.

"Abe, I know the Sirabella's are addicted to my bruschetta, I hope you like it, too." Theresa said from behind the kitchen island where she spent a good deal of her time.

"I'm sure, uh, it'll be, really , uh, great." Abe Dufree was a pasty individual, but his body kept Alex drooling. His triceps the size of Mr. Russo's head and sparkling from underneath his red polo.

"Salad's on the table, so are the appetizers, dig in." Theresa called. "I'm just putting the chicken in the oven now."

"It looks as good as it smells, Mrs. Russo." Fia's tiny voice spoke up above the rest of them.

"Thank you, Fia!" Theresa bent down behind Fia's chair and pecked her cheek. "It's so good to see you, honey, outside of a picture frame, I mean." She made reference to the picture of junior high versions of Justin and Fia that sat on Justin's night stand. "You've definitely grown up."

Alex sat between Mr. Sirabella and her mother; she couldn't help, but laugh at her older brother, who was sitting across from her at the table. His whole face matched the tomatos in the bruschetta and his eyes were basically pulling out of his face and onto Fia's chest, but she was eating, obliviously.

"She's certainly grown." Alex kicked her brother from under the table.

"Ow!" He let out a squeal that caused everybody at the table to stop eating.

"Are you alright, son?" Nickoli asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I just, sore muscles." Justin made up an excuse and rubbed his calve underneath the table.

"I see." Nickoli frowned his brows down at Justin and looked over at Jerry. "So, how are the magic lessons coming along?" He asked very professionally.

Nickoli was never a wizard, but was very fascinated by the world of wizardy and all of its magic. Alice and Jerry were supposed to be married when they both met Theresa and Nickoli, that's what their parents wanted. If they were going to marry who they loved the most, they had to surrender their magic. Still, they still spoke about it often and recalled old memories.

"Good, good," Jerry said as he swallowed the first few bites. "Justin is very promising." He said which caused Alex to roll her eyes around in their sockets. "What about Fia and Christina?" Jerry was aware that Christina wasn't going to have to give up her powers due to the fact that Abe was a wizard, as well.

"Well, Christina never did find much for her powers, huh, honey?" Nickoli laughed with his oldest daughter. "She'd much rather lose herself in the fantasy world of soap operas." He shook his head.

"_Days of our lives_ of _General Hospital_?" Alex asked, excited to have something in common with this family she was supposed to love so thoroughly.

"_General Hospital_, no competition."

"You're my kind of girl, Chrissy." Alex nodded along and winked.

"Well, if I recall correctly, back when Justin and Fia took lessons together, Fia was chapters ahead of everyone else in their grade." Jerry talked, nostaligically.

"That's right, didn't you get a full scholarship to Deloitte & Bigby Academy?" Theresa asked only to Fia.

"You did?" That impressed Justin more than her new teenage body did. "You never told me that. That's awesome."

"Yes, she did." His hands folded in front of him, Nickoli nodded his head in wide movements, his eyes completely closed. "But, she turned it down, didn't she? That's why we were so late this evening. "

"Oh, it's not a big deal…" Theresa could see this conversation was about to get very uncomfortable and the way Fia was fidgeting, she knew it would upset the girl.

"Fia has made a solid vow to never use magic anymore."

"What?" The entire Russo family seemed shocked and rattled by such a decision.

"Why? Fia, you were always a gifted young wizard."

"It just doesn't make sense to me. I like to go about my days normally, dealing with tradgedy and daily things the way everyone else does."

"You mean, if you could prevent something or re-do it, you wouldn't?" Very curiously, Alex asked Fia.

"No, I wouldn't." Fia was very content with her decision.

"It's no use, Alex, her mother and I have already tried." Nickoli piped up.

"My sister's just crazy." Christina huffed and laughed in her little sister's face.

"What if you knew you could make something better or save a life?"

"I don't expect anybody else to agree with me or even understand." In the most adult manner she could muster up, Fia spoke to the whole dinner table. "I just, I feel better without the burden of magic."

"But, it's who you are." Justin couldn't see Fia being anything, but a wizard ever. That's what made her what she was to him. He'd never realized before the conditions he had put on her.

"It's not who I'm going to be."

"Since, nobody in my family puts their powers to use, we couldn't just transport here. We had to take one of those…" Nickoli waved his hand through the air. "Taxi cabs."

"Life can be tough." Sarcastically, Alex snarled.

Justin, on the other side of the table, was staring Fia down again as she ate. This time, he wasn't fascinating about her body. He was in disbelief that she threw away everything they knew. He didn't really recognize her anymore.


End file.
